SHOT Show 2013: CZ’s focus on the Custom Shop

For more than a year now, CZ has been manufacturing guns at full capacity and has even discontinued a few popular handguns to focus on their core products.

While it makes sense that CZ would have less variety, at their booth it seemed, if anything, like they had more. They have put a new focus on their custom shop to make factory competition and duty guns that are a cut above.

Like the Accu-Shadow. This pistol is competition-ready with a host of new features not seen before on CZ’s handguns.

It has an elevation-only adjustable rear sight that is paired with a front fiber-optic sight—the rear sight can be drifted, of course. The controls are extended and extremely easy to reach. Facing the muzzle you can see how very different this gun is, internally, compared to existing CZs.

The Custom Shop has engineered a barrel bushing system, similar to a 1911 barrel bushing—or more specifically, a CZ 97 bushing—along with some hand-fitting to make this their most accurate pistol yet. The guns have been tested to shoot three-inch groups (from sandbags) at 50 yards.

But what really stands out and probably has the most to do with the gun’s accuracy is the new short-reset trigger. Only available for pistols without firing pin blocks, the trigger uses a completely different type of disconnect that draws back on the trigger when the hammer is cocked. The result is a SA trigger with no pretravel and an extremely short reset.

There are many DA/SA guns that claim to have a “1911-like” SA trigger. This one really is, and it’s light and crisp, too. Only instead of eight rounds of .45 ACP it carries 19 rounds of 9mm.

It also gets CZ flush-fitting aluminum grips, which we’re really fond of, too. It’s not the only one; most of the Custom Shop guns sport a set, including the new CZ 97s, CZ’s staggered-stack .45. It’s not a small gun; truth be told the 97 is large enough to put some shooters off.

But with a set of flush-fitting grips, all that changes. The 97 becomes a much more approachable handgun, with a grip that a much larger body of shooters can appreciate. The new batch of 97s also have front fiber-optic sights for standard version but maintain the night sights on the Tactical model.

CZ was really putting the spotlight on some of their pre-existing Custom Shop guns, too, like the Pro-Tek I and II, dehorned concealed-carry pistols, but we were most taken by their SDP. It’s a step up from their P-01 with a custom hammer for a lighter, smoother trigger pull, figure-eight night sights and naturally, flush grips. It also features an “old-style” 85-series trigger.

What makes the SDP stand out is the price. It’s surprisingly affordable for a semi-custom carry pistol, retailing for a little over $1,200.

CZ also has a few new pump shotguns for home defense as well as general purpose shotgunning. They make up the new 612 series and we expect them to be extremely affordable, at or less than $400. CZ’s shotguns are actually commissioned for them and manufactured by Huglu of Turkey, so availability, at least on the manufacturing side, shouldn’t be an issue.

Finally, and we’ve been waiting a long time for this one, CZ is hoping to get their full-size version of the P-07 Duty, the new P-09 Duty on the market in the next few months. This polymer DA/SA service pistol will have a 4.25-inch barrel and a capacity of 19+1.